Microsol Makes Binding Offer for Germany’s Solon, Administrator Says

By Stefan Nicola -
Mar 1, 2012

Microsol International has made a
binding offer to buy Solon SE (SOO1), a German solar-panel maker in
bankruptcy proceedings.

Microsol, a solar-cell maker based in Fujairah, United Arab
Emirates, agreed to keep 433 of Solon’s 471 employees and its
Berlin site, the insolvency administrator Ruediger Wienberg said
in an e-mailed statement today. No price was given.

Microsol would obtain access to “a well-known brand, good
technology and the German photovoltaic market,” the world’s
largest, Henning Wicht, an analyst at researcher HIS Isuppli,
said Jan. 23.

A Berlin court today instituted insolvency proceedings
against Solon, the company said in a statement. Solon filed for
insolvency in December after talks failed with lenders and
investors to extend repayment of a 275 million-euro ($367
million) loan to German banks including Deutsche Bank AG. Solon
has a market value of 4.7 million euros.

Microsol plans to take over the Berlin site with its solar-
panel manufacturing plant and research, procurement and sales
divisions. It also seeks to buy Solon units in Italy and the
U.S., Wienberg said. He is still looking for a buyer for Solon’s
French unit.

Chinese Competition

German panel makers such as Q-Cells SE (QCE) and Conergy AG are
struggling with rising competition from China, where the world’s
three biggest panel makers are based. Added capacity at Chinese
manufacturers has resulted in price declines that contributed to
insolvency filings in December by Solar Millennium AG (S2M), a project
developer with headquarters in Erlangen, Germany.

Microsol, founded in 2003, runs a solar-cell plant with a
capacity of 150 megawatts and has more than 200 workers,
according to its website. Solon, which in 1998 became Germany’s
first listed photovoltaic producer, has units in Italy, Germany,
France and the U.S., according to its website.

The Federal Cartel Office already agreed to the takeover,
according to the statement. Wienberg has to accept the offer by
March 5 to activate the sale, he said in the statement.